August Bank Holiday is upon us again and that brings with it Leeds 2008 and a rocking end to the summer music festival season.

Eureka Machines kick us off on the BBC Introducing stage and blast through the check list of how to open a festival: cheer the local city (Leeds); boo the sister site (Reading); interact with the crowd; complete assortment of hair: extreme-chops, mop-top, goatee, spikes and Mohican; worship the God Of Rock; offend the locals; rain, mud, beer, sun; guitar behind the head; and perfectly synchronised kick-jumps. Check, check and check. Probably the tightest bands of the weekend, but these are no Yorkshire skin-flints with Eureka Machines not only do you get a healthy dose of rock and roll, but 200 lucky, lucky festival bunnies got a free CD!  read more »

British Sea Power start the final day and drive away any remnants of the morning's deluge. Unfortunately the wind, or the Main Stage's volume limiter, conspire to also wash away the sound, so only the manic flag waving at the front gives hint to how good they are.

Cramming the Alternative Stage and spilling out the sides into the roasting sunshine, it seems everyone is here to see Michael Macintyre entertain with hilarious over-the-top take on social stereotypes.

"Tantrum of the Weekend" award goes to The Mystery Jets, when they're told they only have eight minutes remaining. Instead of making the most of it and giving everyone two more fine indie songs, they moan and whine at the crowd, trying to insight a riot, and then when that fails, they stomp off stage kicking over a couple of mic-stands on the way.  read more »

The last day of the festival. It threw it down on Saturday Night but when The Blackout came to the main stage, they had a little battle with the elements. The rain came down, they played harder, the rain tried a little harder, they played louder, the clouds parted and the sun came out to play. The day was bright and The Blackout had done exactly the opposite of their name. Creating a bit of competition between Leeds and Reading they got the crowd up and moving and the two vocalists launched themselves into the crowd toward the end of their set which livened things up 10-fold. Their tracks were lively and fun and jam packed full of aggression! They told everyone to check out other home grown talent including Kids In Glass Houses and You Me At Six, flying the flag for the UK. I enjoyed 'blacking out'.  read more »

Saturday kicked off at the main stage again. I was going to go see Fran Rodgers but having walked around for a day in wellies a size too small for me, I wanted to do as little walking as possible really. Mr Colin Murray introduced Anti-Flag. They got the crowd going, worked up into a frenzy with their anti-capitalism ways and means. They wanted to burn the Visa/Mastercard flag that was being waved around in the crowd too; fortunately no one took their advice.

After Anti-Flag came Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly., a band I really wanted to see and was gutted that they were only on for a minimal thirty minutes. But they were on none the less and they were awesome. From 'I-Spy' to 'War Of The Worlds' and with 'Call Me Ishmael' between, combining other tracks from both their new and debut album, they were committed to putting on a great show and we extremely sincere about the positive crowd response. They said that they aren't your typical Leeds Festival band but we all made them feel welcome and they enjoyed playing for us. Granted they're probably not you're typical rock band for the festival, but the music is genuine and packed full of talent. I love this band.  read more »

Another sunny start proves the weathermen wrong again and brings out huge crowds. Standing on his (soap) box, Beans On Toast is one man with a guitar, making the world a better place through songs about sex, drugs, politics, MySpace and wellies. Although his spoiler about Rage's forthcoming Guantanamo protest (*) turns out to be wrong, he takes advantage of the crowd gathering to see Henry Rollins, and risking incurring the former punk's wrath with a second rendition of 'This side of the fence', brings about the ovation that is richly deserved. Stoop slightly and squint and Henry Rollins might just look like the front man from seminal hardcore punk band Black Flag - that's because he is. Now, he's touring the world giving highly charged spoken-word performances promoting Human Rights and Social Justice. Giving insights into The Axis of Evil as a tourist destination with a typically American brashness, his world-view is distinctly un-American. Next Serj Tankian - the weird guy in the white top hat - gives us his views on politics on the Main Stage. Going solo, because he believed System Of A Down weren't succeeding in getting his anti-war message across, he's not quite found the edge that made SOAD so popular. At the 4th attempt of seeing them, Biffy Clyro certainly do not disappoint, climbing mountains of heavy guitars and lyrical melodies they set the stage for rock headliners. Queens of the Stone Age may not look like rock-gods, yet they demand worshipping. Right from the opening beat of No-one Knows, the thundering juggernaut is relentless. Through favourites Feel Good Hit Of The Summer, Little Sister, Sick Sick Sick (I could actually list every song they played here if only I could remember them all), until finally, with Go With The Flow, the pounding is complete and there's just enough time to catch breath before Rage Against The Machine . Sans-jumpsuit (*) Rage Against The Machine take to the stage for their hugely anticipated return. Over the 8 years since their last appearance in the rain at Temple Newsam the songs have lost none of their power or revolutionary ideals, but there's no new material or ideas. Disappointingly there are no fireworks - literally and metaphorically - though Tom Morello's guitar work is mesmerising. (*) Apparently last night in Reading, Rage appeared shackled, hooded and in Guantanamo-style orange jumpsuits - a symbolic demonstration sadly lacking from the Leeds performance. Read more about the featured bands: Rage Against The Machine , Queens of the Stone Age , Biffy Clyro , Serj Tankian , Beans On Toast . Read more from this author: Ian Sugden .  read more »

Turning up on Friday morning, swapping my piece of paper for my press pass, pitching my tent in guest camping and making my way to the arena, I was really pleased I'd been able to come to Leeds this year. I headed straight for the main stage to see what was going to happen as Slipknot had pulled out. Colin Murray came onstage and informed us they were going to push the first band back 45 minutes so there weren't any gaps throughout the rest of the day.

That first band was Mindless Self Indulgence. I'd never heard any of their music before but was surprisingly impressed. Bending over backwards (the bassist literally) to put on an explosive first set of the main stage their music had elements from all over the place, goth, rock, dance, electro. Taking the mick out of Plain White T's went down well, but times got difficult midway through set when they lost it a little. The frontman did though bring things back by grabbing a blow up doll from the crowd and waltzing around during a track. An ace way to kick off the day!  read more »

Eureka Machines charge up the whole show for the next three days by demolishing Friday's graveyard slot, tearing out classic rock songs like Saturday night was already half way through and speeding us all up to life-threatening pulse levels. They wear great shoes, have pressed their white ties and rehearsed their aggressive stares into laser precision instruments of entrapment. They blister out the sorts of guitar riff that Dave Edmunds and Slade made into works of art. They surf the adrenaline waves of a massive-sounding PA and pour out relentless harmony vocals in big tunes like "Scream Eureka", "The Story of My Life" and "Being Good". Goods magpied from Sisters of Mercy, The Scaramanga Six and other ports of Catalyst's call can be half-detected. Between songs Chris Catalyst gently mocks the Festival clichs with the good grace of a rock and roll addict who loves it all, and has done most of it. None of the bands that followed would have done themselves any harm at by watching this band leader showing how to work a stage and connect with a crowd. So long the apprentice, he is now a master craftsman and the set flies past in a rush of guitar energy and super-tight playing. The sharpness of the performance, the striking appearance and the sheer volume drew a crowd that stayed the distance and roared approval at the end. Wickedly twinkling eyes, with hearts firmly set on the strong cheese counter of entertainment never faltered and never let the audience go for a second. A soon-to-be-album is promised. My earlier trips across the Park to see The Metros (NME/Radio One Stage) and XX Teens (Festival Republic Stage) are well and truly trashed by what Eureka Machines are doing. All memories of those shallow attempts at funkiness are scorched into oblivion. The rock and the roll started here, and Catalyst was still at it, back in Leeds on Sunday night, batteries undimmed after doing it all again in Reading. The man is a star and his mates in the band are more than wiling (and very able) to reinforce the image with rock solid performances in each department. Read more about the featured bands: Eureka Machines . Read more from this author: Sam Saunders .  read more »

'Worship Sunday' -- 18 hours of music, talks and interviews; 'Shabbat Shalom' -- Jewish Contemporary music, plus LA Rabbi; 'Celebrate Kids' -- kids music, plus kids show from Germany; News and music shows, with several other new music sections -- all on Celebrate Radio's brand new programme. (PRWeb Aug 25, 2008)
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/08/prweb1243074.htm

Interview with Eastern Music Festival Performers Airs Sunday, August 31 (PRWeb Aug 27, 2008)
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/Classical/Music/prweb1240584.htm

Seraphic Fire will present a special summer encore run of its popular Amazing Grace program, performed last November and now available on the choir's self-produced CD. The program traces the celebrated hymn through a variety of American music from rural Appalachia and country to the folk, bluegrass and gospel traditions.